Gute Nacht
by The True Wild Fire
Summary: Gute Nacht - The literal equivalent of the English "good night," "Gute Nacht," is restricted for the most part to wishing someone a good night's sleep as he or she is going off to bed.
1. The Friend Found in Fire

**So this is a darker story, I honestly like it at this point. I spent a couple days writing this much, I hope the next chapter is longer. I am procrastinating with this story so don't expect any regular updates. I will update whenever I have a new chapter ready.**

* * *

**The Friend Found in Fire**

June of 1930, Prussia

I knew that I had found something special when I cradled the small creature in my hand. I couldn't believe it. My crimson orbs were wide with anticipation, I couldn't wait to show my friends! Actually, I only had one person that I really considered a friend, Eli. However, he was really strange. He had two shining emeralds on his face and shoulder-length hair the color of an oak trunk. Though he had a very feminine build, he was agile, smart, and strong. He could outwit any of the boys in the small town.

We were both seven at the time, when I found what would become the most important thing in the world to me. It was an event that would change our lives forever, but first I should tell you more about myself. My name is Gilbert Beilschmidt, I lived my entire life in a small village in the kingdom of Prussia. I had never left the village until the day I turned twenty-one. My best friend growing up was Eli, who kept a huge secret until that day.

Now back to the story, we were seven at the time. Eli and I each had our respective wooden swords, the thud of wood clashing together echoed through the clearing. It was our secret spot that we had never shown anyone else, you had to trek half an hour to get to, near an abandoned cottage. We knew each other's style, making it difficult for either of us to land a blow. That was until he disappeared out of my view and I felt the wood being jabbed into my side.

"You surrender?" The thick Hungarian accent hit my ears as I smirked. I dropped my sword on the ground and waited until I felt the pressure leave my side before lunging at the hilt of the blunt weapon. Eli easily managed to catch on to my plan before I even put it into motion.

Instead of instinctively pulling back, the younger boy thrust the wooden sword forward, stabbing me in the stomach. I stumbled to the ground clutching my sore abdomen. "I...surrender."

Eli smiled, offering me a slender hand. He laughed as he spoke, "If you would just surrender in the first place, I wouldn't have to give you these bruises."

I pushed aside his hand with a scowl, only causing his smile to widen. I flinched as I pushed myself up, my arms were sore from fighting the whole day. He laughed at me as I lunged at him and pushed him on the ground, trying to pin him. He punched in the exact spot where he had stabbed me earlier. I cried out as I pouted, "Not fair!"

"Maybe next time you should actually land a blow on-" Eli was cut short by screams. His eyes widened in horror as we saw smoke rise above the trees. The smoke was rising above the Hedervary family farm. The younger of the two stood frozen in his spot. Eli was in shock, "...is that the farm. Tell me, Gilbert, that isn't the farm!"

His voice was a high pitch as he stared hopelessly at the face of his best friend, me of course, tears were welling up in the corner of his eyes. I couldn't move, I didn't believe it. I had never even been to my friend's farm, never met his family, all I knew is he could loose them. He started running, so racing after him was the only thing I could do. The only building in that direction was the farm, I could hear the shouting and screaming. We were so close I could see the fire and I heard a woman calling out a name, "...iz! Elizaveta! My baby girl! Where are you?!"

There was a screech of pain as I watched the timbers crumble and the roof of the small ranch house caved in. The woman was screaming in pain for only a short amount of time before her voice died off. I stood there confused at what I heard the woman scream as the younger spoke in Hungarian. "Anya! Nem! Ígérem, nem fut le újra! Gyere vissza..."

"...Elizaveta...?" The name rolled off my tongue as, the person who I thought was Eli, widened their eyes. It was a girl's name, but Eli was a guy right? "But, that's a girl's name...do you have a sister? I'm sure she wasn't calling for you...right?"

The person shook their head softly. Tears were pouring down her face, she had lost her family and her home. The only buildings that were left standing were the stables and the chicken coop, though there were few animals left due to the majority fleeing into the forest. There were three horses crying out in the stables, a group of goats were trying desperately to climb over the fence, and a dog fled towards them as the fire crackled in the background. Elizaveta spoke soft as she kneeled down to pet the terrified animal. "I thought if you knew I wasn't a guy, that you wouldn't want to play or hang out with me..."

My face softened as the crackling grew louder, people were rushing towards the barn trying to rescue the horses. _Piyo!_ My head snapped towards the chicken coop, hearing the sound of distress. I left the Hungarian girl crying in the dust, as I rushed towards the small building. _Piyo! Piyo!_ I heard sounds of the _polizei _behind me as I got closer to the sound. _Piyo!_ I headed through the door of the small building, ignoring shouts and screams of horses. _Piyo... _The peeping started to die down.

_Pi..._ The shouting grew louder, I heard Elizaveta screaming. I coughed, for some reason the smoke had gotten thicker. Before I had time to conclude why, I saw it. There was a small chick, now unmoving. I reached down and touched it, thinking it was dead, but its eyes opened just enough to tell me it was still alive. I turned around to head for the door, but I could no longer see it. The smoke was thick, too thick for it to be coming from the house.

It hit me like a train, I was left almost senseless. The chicken coop was on fire. I coughed to the point where my lungs were void of air, my eyes were watering as I gasped for air. I felt the heat lick my face, the flames were creeping toward me. I was going to die, never see my mother or father again. I was never going to meet my brother, he was never going to have an older brother...

My vision was going black, but I had to save the chick. I held the small creature close to my heart and gave myself no choice, tears stung my eyes as fear clutched my heart. I charged through the flames, doing my best to keep the chick alive. My skin burned, my chest was about to explode, my throat was on fire. I ran until I felt fresh air touch grasp my skin and flow into my lungs.

"Gil! Gilbert! Are you okay?! Get up Gil! Please, get up!" I felt a body wrapped around my own as I collapsed to the ground, but it was being yanked away. "No! I won't leave him! Gil!"

"Eli?" My mind was clouded, my vision black, I set the chick down on the soft grass. It wasn't moving, but I knew it was alive. A cocky smile grew on my face and I knew exactly what to name it. "Take care of Gilbird okay?"

I heard her screaming in the back of my mind as I laid my head on the ground. My smile slipped from my face as my pain dulled, my body felt heavy as the blackness started to swallow me. I panicked. I wasn't ready to die...

The blackness ignored my request and proceeded to encase me.

* * *

**I promise you this is not a one-shot, I know I left it at a cliff-hanger but everything will be clear soon.**


	2. Welcome to School

**Here is the second chapter, thank you to Lnikolett for following!**

* * *

September, 1934

It had been four years since the fire, I had since became closer to Elizaveta and my younger brother, Ludwig. Elizaveta had started living with my uncle after her parent's funeral and had been helping his servants out.

I couldn't wait to go back out to the forest, soon I'd get to show Ludwig everything. I could teach him sword fighting, how to hunt, I could show him the secret glade! I slipped out of bed, my legs still weak, and creeped towards the small room at the end of the hall. I peered in and saw _Mutti _cradling the month old child. Moonlight shone through large glass window, my eyes growing to the size of the cookies _Mutti _makes, as I crept toward her.

"Gilbert, I thought I told you to sleep..." Despite the harsh words she spoke to me, _Mutti_ had a warm smile gracing her beautiful features. Her pale blond hair shown in the moonlight, and her dark purple eyes shone with happiness. She sighed before saying, "Come here my sweet child..."

My face lit up as I walked towards her and peered into the face of the younger boy. His face was so peaceful, it was so chubby and cute. Blonde hair sat on top of his head, his eyes fluttered open slightly after he yawned. His ice blue eyes matched _Vater's_, along with his light blonde hair.

I flinched as light flooded in from the doorway, _Vater _stood there, his icy blue eyes fixed on me and narrowed. I shrunk down as far as I could, wishing I could escape his blazing gaze and the frown present on his face. Then he spoke, his voice deep and rumbling, tinted with a harsh tone that made me want to cry, "I thought you sent him to bed. It's too late for him to be up."

_Mutti _sighed before standing up, Ludwig held tightly in her arms. He was awake by now, peering around curiously with large blue eyes. "He just wanted to see his _bruder_, Hermann, I'll take him back to his room soon."

The petite woman pressed a kiss to her husband's cheek. I watched as he turned and walked out, however I didn't fail to notice the frown curve slightly upwards. I smiled widely and turned back towards _Mutti_, who was laying Ludwig down to sleep. She spun gracefully on her heels and gently took one of my hands. She led me back to my room as I yawned, ready for a full night's rest. "Go to sleep my sweet, you have school in the morning."

The Next Morning

I awoke, startled by _Vater's_ yelling, surprised he didn't wake up the baby. I groaned and grudgingly got up. "Gilbert, I'm running your bath!"

_Mutti's _pleasant voice reached my ears. It was smooth like honey and made you feel warm inside, so different from _Vater's_ harsh and angry tone. I dragged myself away from my bed towards the bathroom. School was the thing I hated most in the world. Elizaveta and my foreign friends were the best things there.

We were the odd balls, even my cousin Roddy had more friends and he isn't anymore Aryan than I am. I took a bath as quickly as I could before throwing my uniform on. _Mutti _slicked back my hair as I glared at my reflection. _Honk!_

I grabbed my bag before rushing out the door. The bus was crowded and loud, people glared at me as I marched back to my usual seat. I sat in the back with the rest of the non-Aryan, dirty, or foreign children, my friends also sat back there. There was Elizaveta, Antonio came from Spain, Francis came from France, then the Italian gypsy, Lovina. I was looked upon as a demon for my red eyes, so I had to sit in the back with the evil and dirty people.

A devilish grin appeared on my face as I jumped in the seat beside Elizaveta. Antonio sat with Lovina while Francis decided he'd be best alone. "Hey Lizzie, are you excited for another day of school?"

I started to scoot closer to the Hungarian girl who frowned and did her best to ignore me. My grin grew wider as I continued, pressing her into the side of the bus. I had long since forgiven her for lying to me and we were still the bestest of friends, though we hadn't been back to the meadow since the fire. "Gilbert! Get off of me!"

I laughed as she shoved me away and an idea came to my head. "Liz, do you want to go back to the meadow?"

She opened her mouth to answer, sadness filling her beautiful emerald eyes. "Gilbert, I-"

_Piyo~_ My eyes widened as I pushed my bag further behind me. _Piyo~_ A smile appeared on Elizaveta's face as she grabbed my bag and opened it. "You brought Gilbird! I thought you wouldn't bring him again after Herr Muller threatened to dissect him!"

"No shall dissect my pet, even if it is in the name of science!" I yelled as I stood up on the bus, with my arm high in the air. I smiled and sat back down as the bus driver yelled and the kids in the front started to whisper to each other. "He shall never leave the safety of my bag, though. Some mean bully would come and steal him..."

I gazed into my bag, admiration for the small fluffy animal clear. It turned out there had been a canary in the chicken coop for some odd reason and the small animal had been his friend ever since. I reached my hand in to touch the precious creature when the bus halted to a stop, causing me to slide off my seat. The bus door opened and people started to file off the bus, us being last to leave of course.

I hopped down the steps of the bus, followed by Liz and my other friends. It was time for another day of sitting in the back of the class with friends. I groaned as Francis and Antonio dragged me to the class. I huffed as we headed to the classroom and felt myself run into something big. "Watch where you're going, demon scum!"

The breathe was knocked out of me as I was shoved across the hall and landed, splayed across the ground. I struggled to push myself back up as everyone laughed around me. A foot met my ribs, pushing me back on the ground. Teachers walked past, acting like nothing was happening.

I looked towards my friends who were being blocked off from getting to me. I tried to stand up again, only to get shoved down again. I shut my eyes tightly as I was kicked repeatedly in the stomach. I heard nothing but laughing and my friends screaming for them to stop. I opened my eyes just to see black spots, so they were closed once again.

Multiple feet met my abdomen and occasionally my groin. I cried out, hoping it would stop soon. I eventually felt the kicking stop as I was moved, voices floating around me. I vaguely heard the voice of my mother, who worked as a science teacher. I felt myself lifted off the ground and set down in a chair, which then started moving.

I groaned as I was moved on to a bed, the springs squeaking below me in protest, as the blackness took over my consciousness.

* * *

**Thank you for reading, I'm hoping my chapters will become gradually longer. Please keep reading, all the views mean a lot to me!**


End file.
